I hope everyone who celebrates had a Merry Christmas! Now that the holiday's past, we've got discounts of 20-50% off all Christmas items.

A phone call yesterday reminded me that I was remiss in not posting my holiday hours here. That post got unfortunately lost in the Christmas rush. So for future reference, I’ve edited my basic information post to include a list of days we’re closed or close early.

In the ongoing saga of "Emily is not a photographer," I got a new camera for Christmas. I've gone from a 7 year old 4 megapixel behemoth (relatively speaking) to a slim little 16 megapixel with all sorts of interesting bells and whistles. So far, I’m quite pleased. Lovely color, easy to use, good performance in low light, gorgeous screen. Of course, that means I’ve been playing with my new toy incessantly for the past few days, trying out all the new features.

Clearly I need to practice some more if I’m going to be trying to take panoramic pictures.

You can see more of my test shots on these Etsy listings:

• Teal Ironstone Transferware Plate
• Antique Dentist’s Tools
• Hubley Cement Mixer Truck
• Vintage French Tourist Guides & Maps
• Assortment of Vintage Clock Parts
• "Lose Weight" Gag Gift

I’ve also spiffed up the entryway a bit for New Year’s celebrations.

Here we’ve got a whole bunch of vintage noise makers (also available on Etsy), an old silverplate ice bucket, a pair of Avon champagne flutes, a Reed & Barton silverplate bowl with red enamel inside, a silverplate butler’s tray, and a silverplate cocktail shaker (also available on Etsy).

...And Now

And here are the pictures from the Anniversary Sale & Open House, after the jump. Readers with slow connections, beware, there are a lot of pictures here!

Now: Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

A "Then and Now" of Sorts

I've finally uploaded my pictures from the Anniversary Open House to the computer! Yeah, I'm running a bit late with that. Oops. But going through my folder of store pictures, I realized I still had a whole bunch of pictures from the Grand Opening last year which were never cleaned up or posted, so I figured I'd do them now for a little contrast. There's quite a few pictures between last year and this year, so I'll break it up into two posts. Firstly, the Grand Opening.


Two things to note:
- This isn't all the pictures. Quite a few were, shall we say...not so post-able. See my tag "photos are difficult".
- Wow, we have managed to fit in a lot more stuff over the year. Really. Wow.


So, after the jump, Then: Saturday, December 4th, 2010

Etsy Sale!

Okay, here we go! The promised Etsy Anniversary Sale coupon code:

Code: ANNIVERSARY
Discount: 15% off everything
Active: Now through Sunday, 12/4

Just put the code in at checkout, and Etsy will apply the discount automatically.

Here's the link to my shop again: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WillowTreeAntiques

Clearly I must be in a blogging mood this month, because this will be November's 6th post, as opposed to my usual 2 posts a month. Maybe I am getting better at this thing!

So we have the start of some Christmas display pictures, finally.

First, here's some from Debbie. A distressed green shelf, white dishes, bottle brush trees, and some cheery fun vintage Christmas ornaments. Some of these old ornaments are so neat - pinks and greens and glitter and shiny stripes. Love them!

Again from Debbie, some more traditional Christmas colors. A neat shabby old green dresser with a New England red shelf on the wall over it, with all sorts of other red, green, and white bits and bobs all over.

Unforunately, the picture doesn't really do this one justice; it's so pretty in person! First, a great old cedar chest on legs...the house call we got it from was frankly a little terrifying, I thought the attic floor might fall through and send us falling. But the cedar chest came down fine, and now it's here full of all sorts of things - on the right, this lovely 19th Century table, perfect as a side table or nightstand. On that, we've got a silverplate bowl with an acorn motif (a little out of season, perhaps, but still pretty). On the left, more silverplate nestled in a lit garland with poinsettias.

Now for some non-holiday stuff. I really love how this corner of the room came out. Here we've got a bookcase and vanity table painted the same gorgeous teal-y blue. On top of the bookcase sits a little old dresser, either doll-sized or a salesman's sample. Next to that is this cute glove holder - three clips shaped like pairs of gloves hold little white child's gloves.

Let's play a game! Here we've got a jar full of miniature billiard balls, more jars of game pieces, Bingo from the 1930s (on Etsy), and Elgo Plastics' American Skyline building set (on Etsy). On the second shelf, we have a vintage baby dish, some old baby clothes, and a set of child's toy china (on Etsy). On the floor, we've got a Radio Flyer bicycle with Teddy, a wagon, a teddy bear print, and in the corner there, an antique plank seat child's rocking chair.

And here's the vanity table, bench, and mirror. On the vanity, we've got a clear glass vanity box, two lipstick holders, a 1920s powder puff wand, an atomiser bottle, and a neat shabby half-doll lamp (on Etsy).





I've also got some holiday stuff up on Etsy now, like clip-on Christmas tree candleholders, a box of vintage candles, and some great old child's ice skates. And then there are these guys. I'm not sure if they're supposed to be some kind of odd fish, Christmas whales, or tomatoes with tails.

Happy Small Business Saturday! If you haven't already, please do try to get out to a local business or two and help support your local economy!

Another big push to get the winter and Christmas things out today. It's still not photograph-worthy unforunately, but we've got lights and things up, so that's an improvement. One thing you never actually realize as a customer - you walk into a store and one day, it's suddenly covered in Christmas stuff like magic, but wow, yeah, it doesn't really appear all at once.

The main point to this post is to give a big thank you to Melodye Whatley, who came and gave us a lovely show with her bowed psaltery this afternoon.

It really is a beautiful instrument, and makes quite a lot of sound for such a little thing! If you'd to know more about the bowed psaltery and Melodye's work, check out the pdf version of her pamphlet here.

Also, a quick reminder, 1st Anniversary Sale next Saturday and Sunday! I'll be posting the Etsy coupon code at the end of the week, so keep an eye out for that here and on Twitter.

Return of the dodgy photos

One of these days, I will completely figure out how my camera works, I'll get a tripod, and I'll be patient enought to wait around all day for the light to not be so glaringly bright. Today is not that day.

We've become the drop-leaf table store. This is the fourth one we have in the store right now. So if you're looking for a drop-leaf, we've got 'em. Really. Four of them. This particular one is a (likely) cherry gate-leg made by Statton Furniture. It also has two additional leaves (which bring the table to nearly 7' long) and those protector felt pads to keep it in good shape (not pictured). I couldn't track down an age for it, but it's still a gorgeous piece.

And just in this French & Heald Company 5-drawer maple dresser. It's really quite lovely in person, with intricate handles and dovetailed drawers. Another piece I can't properly date, though. There is a date stamp on the inside of one of the drawers, but it's terribly smudged.

I think it might say 18*3, but I can't be certain. The antiques business would be so much easier if every company ever had clearly marked and dated their items!

And lastly for the pictures, the display on one of the other drop-leaf tables. This one resides in the entryway, featuring a cubby box full of all sorts of things on the right and two American Tradition ironstone King Tom platters on the left. (You can see them better on Etsy here and here.)

And now really last - I've joined the Hebron Shop Local program that's started this month. Pick up your rewards card here or any other participating business, have it checked off at five different businesses, and turn it into the Town Hall for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate good at any participating business. Look for the orange cow sticker in the window of participating shops!